THE PUNISHERS
(from Earth-691)
Membership: Belle (deceased), Clarke, "Double Bonus" (deceased), Dunn, Elliott, Eunece, Freddy, Jenkins, Joey, Ned Whitter (deceased), Nissi, (Punisher) General (leader, deceased), Statter, dozens of unnamed members
Purpose: Violence; Turf supremacy; Protecting the Realitee-Vee refinery in the Bronx from discovery by the Commandeers
Affiliations: The
Brotherhood of Badoon
(or maybe just Durge and
Durgg);
Doctor Victor von Doom (secretly responsible for their formation)
Enemies: Commandeers (Crazy Nate, Gabrielle, Hollywood, Inez, Old Redd, Tarin),
Guardians of the Galaxy (Charlie-27, Major Astro/Major Victory, Nikki, Yondu),
Krugarr, Talon;
(from Earth-616) Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, The
Thing)
Base of Operations: New York City,
Earth-691, 3016-3018 A.D.
Note: The exact location of their headquarters has never been revealed.
First Appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (October, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: None of the members of the Punishers seemed to possess any superhuman powers, although all of them were heavily armed and quite sociopathic.
Weapons: The Punishers were equipped with a very large number of projectile weapons of varying sizes, including handguns, sniper rifles and machine guns. Their tank weapon was also equipped with some directed-energy weapons.
They also possessed an extremely durable tank that they called the Ultimate Punisher.
Vehicles: The Punishers used sky-skiffs that could carry them through the air but weren't armed.
History:
(Guardians of the Galaxy Annual I#4/2 (fb) - BTS) <early 21st century> - During the War
of the Worlds fought against the Martian invaders, the Punisher (Frank Castle) was one of the last of
Earth's defenders to fall.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (fb) - BTS/Guardians of the Galaxy I# 26 (fb)) - During his long voyage from Earth to Alpha Centauri, Major Vance Astro recorded a number of docu-chips about the heroes of Earth's 20th century, including one about the Punisher.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (fb) - BTS/Guardians of the Galaxy I#32 (fb) - BTS) <3016 A.D.> - Doctor Doom created a very effective method of mass manipulation that used a highly-addictive oderless gas that could be transmitted along with audio and visual signals. Choosing the Saltex Project in the Bronx as a suitable site for the generating facility, Doom hired some Badoon to adapt the complex to his specifications and provide security.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (fb) - BTS/Guardians of the Galaxy I#32 (fb) - BTS) <3016 A.D.> - Without revealing his involvement, Doctor Doom tested his technology by introducing it to the people of Earth as a fully interactive form of holo-vid entertainment called "Realitee-Vee." Humanity embraced this new diversion and many quickly became completely addicted to watching Realitee-Vee. Soon, the older generation of watchers died of starvation after having become so addicted that they couldn't even stop watching long enough to eat or sleep, leaving the younger generation to take to the streets and begin fighting a worldwide Turf War. With most cities on Earth reduced to ruins by the fighting, human civilization collapsed again. Doctor Doom considered the test to be an unqualified success.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (fb) - BTS/Guardians of the Galaxy I#32 (fb) - BTS) - When the activities of the Manhattan-based vigilante group known as the Commandeers threatened the security of the Saltex Project, Doctor Doom decided that he had to act to divert their attention, so he covertly released Astro's docu-chips to the proper criminal element. As Doom had expected, those criminals were inspired to adopt the name, costume and violent methods of the Punisher, and they became the Punishers, the most violent and ruthless street army active in New York City.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#19 (fb) - BTS/Guardians of the Galaxy I#32 (fb) - BTS) - The Punishers formed an alliance with the Badoon who had presented themselves as being responsible for Realitee-Vee. As part of their arrangement, the Punishers acted to protect the Saltex Project complex by keeping the Commandeers busy fighting them (in) Uptown and away from the Bronx.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17 (fb) - BTS) <3017 A.D.> - Over a year after the fighting had begun, the Punishers were the victors in the Turf War for control of Manhattan.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#19 (fb) - BTS/Guardians of the Galaxy I#21: Guard Posts editorial reply) - At some point, the Punishers captured Tarin and tortured her. Although she either escaped on her own or was rescued by the other Commandeers, the injuries that she suffered made it necessary to replace her left hand and most of her left forearm with bionics.
(Fantastic Four Annual#25/1) - When the Fantastic Four and two allies traveled to Kang's stronghold of Chronopolis, a small group of Punishers opened fire on them as soon as they descended to street level. However, the Fantastic Four easily defeated and captured those Punishers who had not run away after seeing the powers of their enemies, and slagged their weapons. Under interrogation, the Punishers revealed that it was the 30th century. The FF then joined up with a team of Avengers who had just arrived on their own, and left the bound Punishers behind as they returned to their primary mission of finding Kang.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#19 (fb) - BTS) - The Punishers were able to slip one of their agents, Belle, into the ranks of the Commandeers.
(Guardians of the Galaxy Annual I#3/1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Punisher gangs destroyed the library computer system that had survived the Badoon occupation.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#17) <3018 A.D.> - After the Guardians returned to Earth, met the Commandeers and learned about the Turf War that had been caused by Realitee-Vee, the two groups joined forces. As they began to search for the Realitee-Vee sets and the Punishers, they were unaware that they were the ones being hunted, as Ned stood on a nearby roof with a sniper rifle aimed at Major Astro's head.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#18) - Just as Ned got his shot off, a fingernail fired at
him by the feline Inhuman known as Talon struck and cut his face, throwing off his aim. The blast still
caught Astro on the side of the head, taking him out of the battle. The Commandeers and Punishers opened
fire on each other, as Hollywood carried Astro to safety. During the battle, many Punishers were killed,
but the Commandeers' Inez was lost too.
Upon learning that the trouble that Alpha Unit was having in Midtown
was because the Commandeers had joined forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Punisher General
ordered that all of their troops, every Punisher in the city, were to be mobilized and sent after the
Commandeers in order to end the war between their two groups once and for all.
Eventually, the Commandeers and Guardians were chased off by the
arrival of the seemingly indestructible Ultimate Punisher tank.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#19) - As the Punishers celebrated, the Punisher General
inspected the alley from which the Guardians and Commandeers had somehow disappeared, and snapped Ned's
neck when he couldn't
explain how they had escaped. When Private Statter asked if they should try to
track their targets down, the General told her not to bother because his "inside man" would lead the
Punishers right to them again.
Later, when the Guardians and the Commandeers arrived at the Saltex Project, the Badoon
there activated a silent alarm. The Punishers responded to the alarm and quickly made their way to the
refinery where they began stealthily getting into position to ambush the heroes. Once everything was ready,
the Badoon revealed themselves to the heroes and, within seconds, they were joined by the assembled forces
of the Punishers, led by the Punisher General, who revealed that the Badoon had been behind them all along.
With the Guardians and Commandeers already massively outnumbered, Belle then showed her true allegiance,
sticking a gun to the back of Charlie-27's head in order to force the heroes to surrender. Once that was
done, at the command of the Badoon, the Punishers made ready to fire at will.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#20) - Just as the Punishers were about to kill the Guardians and Commandeers, Major Victory (a transformed Major Astro) appeared, causing enough of a distraction to turn the tide to their favor. Nikki was able to kill one of the Badoon, Durgg, and Gabrielle killed the traitor, Belle. As the groups began to fight, the Punisher General and the surviving Badoon, Durge, escaped into the Ultimate Punisher, but Hollywood got involved, lifting it and throwing it off the elevated walkway. When Charlie-27 called out that he hadn't wanted that tank destroyed, the Sorcerer Supreme of the time, Krugarr, arrived and managed to use a spell of catch it. On the request of Charlie 27, Krugarr then teleported the tank, the Guardians and the Commandeers to the heart of the complex, leaving the surviving Punishers behind. Charlie-27 then began to rig his gun to "go nuclear." Victory insisted on warning the tank's occupants about the imminent detonation of a nuclear device and offered them protection if they surrendered. Inside the Ultimate Punisher, the Badoon told the human to ignore the threat because the so-called heroes did not have the backbone to do it, but the Punisher General decided to cut his losses and shot Durge. However, as the Punisher General opened the hatch and climbed out, stating that he was unarmed and that the Badoon wouldn't be bothering anyone ever again, Gabrielle replied that neither would he and shot him dead. As Charlie-27 triggered the nuclear detonation, Krugarr cast spells that teleported the Guardians and the Commandeers away to safety while containing the nuclear explosion to the refinery.
What happened to the Punishers who had survived the battle but had then been left behind in the complex has not been revealed.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#30 (fb) - BTS) - After Realitee-Vee was taken off the air, an extremely violent gang of Realitee-Vee addicts, Retox, emerged who wanted it back. The Punishers became the only thing holding Retox back.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#30) - The last major group of Punishers left in New York City was cornered in one Manhattan location by the (expanded) Commandeers. Despite being out of ammo, the Punishers refused to surrender until the Commandeers fired pyrethincendiary grenades into their hideout that sucked all the oxygen out of the air. Gasping for breath, the Punishers were forced to exit the building and surrender. Although Gabrielle had wanted to mow them down as they came out, Tarin felt that it was better to capture them because the Punishers had been broken. However, as the nine prisoners were led away, they mocked the Commandeers, saying that they would be laughing out of the other sides of their faces when the Retox boys cut them new mouths.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#38 (fb)) - At the headquarters of the Commandeers, Tarin recorded a final entry in her video log. In the brief message, Tarin spoke of how the Commandeers had successfully routed the last of the Punisher gangs but had been ill-prepared for the next onslaught, Retox, merciless Realitee-Vee addicts who were determined to revive the RTV system. Retox had ambushed the Commandeers at the memorial service for a fallen comrade, killing all of them except Tarin and Old Redd who had fled back to their headquarters. As Tarin spoke of how Retox were even then invading their headquarters and asked whoever found the log to get it to the Guardians of the Galaxy, Retox broke through the door. Tarin's message ended with a scream.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#32) - In a domed structure in eastern Europe, Doctor Doom told Rancor and her five lieutenants how he had created Realitee-Vee, the most effective method of mass manipulation ever conceived, and how it had been an unqualified success until the Guardians of the Galaxy and the para-military Commandeers had destroyed his broadcasting facility in the Bronx. After exposing the mutants to the effects of RTV, rendering them more willing to listen to him, Doom explained how he had housed the RTV refinery in the headquarters of the Saltex Project that had been constructed by the Techno-Baron Hans Tommer, and had bribed some Badoon to adapt the complex to his specifications and maintain its security. However, when the Commandeers had threatened that security, Doom had released Astro's docu-chips to the proper criminal element, resulting in the formation of the Punishers.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#38) - After teleporting into the Commandeers' headquarters and finding it had been trashed, the Guardians found Tarin's log box and played her final entry. Watching it told them what Retox had done and where they were, so the vengeful Guardians immediately left for the Bronx.
(Guardians of the Galaxy Annual I#3/1 - BTS) - President Tarin contacted the Guardians of the Galaxy in deep space aboard their starship, the Icarus, to ask for their help is solving a 90% illiteracy rate among the population, caused in part by the fact that books were nearly non-existent and the library computer system had been destroyed long ago by the Punisher gangs. Tarin wanted them to locate an ancient historical tome known as the Irish Book of Kells, which she believed would immediately accelerate the detoxification program for RTV addicts.
(Guardians of the Galaxy I#47) - As the Galactic Guardians discussed the A.W.O.L. status of Hollywood (Simon Williams), Mainframe provided a review of his recent history. This included a summary of how Hollywood had been a member of the Commandeers when they, with help from the Guardians of the Galaxy, had neutralized the Punishers, a savage cult that had loosely based itself on the legend of Frank Castle from the 20th century, and the Badoon who had been their cohorts.
(Guardians of the Galaxy Annual I#4/2) - Speaking from Earth's Moon to an unseen audience, Uilig, the last Watcher, concluded his Future History narrative that was explaining how super heroes and villains from the past were continuing to impact that thirty-first century timeline. After speaking of how the original Punisher, Frank Castle, had been one of the last to fall to the Martian invaders, Uilig spoke of how Castle's legend has survived due to Astro's documentation. Uilig added that, unfortunately, that legend had manifested in a bizarre fashion when, centuries after his death, Castle's legacy was revived and revered by a brutal New York street gang. After adopting Castle's signature costume, 'The Punishers' had terrorized the city until they were defeated by the Commandeers, led by Tarin, the current President of Earth's Northeast Corridor.
Comments: Created by Jim Valentino and Steve Montano.The Punishers actually gained inspiration from watching Major Vance Astro's docu-chips on heroes from the 20th century.
Update information
Jim Valentino's idea that Vance Astro was (significantly) responsible for
the existence of the Punishers was retconned somewhat when Michael Gallagher revealed that Doctor Doom had
deliberately released Astro's docu-chips to "the proper criminal element" because he had predicted that
doing so would lead to the formation of the Punishers. I have mixed feelings about this retcon. On the
one hand, since Doom knew all about the Punisher himself, he could have released that data on his own,
and the fact that he used Astro's docu-chips was because it was convenient. This is good for Astro because
it shifts the blame from him to Doom. On the other hand, it was disappointing to be told that the Badoon
who had supposedly brought about the collapse of human civilization were nothing more than Doom's hired
flunkies, presumably hired to be fall guys if the RTV operation was ever scrutinized.
Since Ned Witter never broke when Charlie-27 interrogated him, the Guardians (and we readers) never learned where the headquarters of the Punishers was located. The only thing that the brief glimpse we were given on page 9 of GOTG I#18 revealed is that, although it was in New York City, it was not in the neighborhood known as Midtown. Also, given where Krugarr was based and where the Commandeers had their underground headquarters, it was probably not in Greenwich Village or the Upper East Side either. Unfortunately, that still leaves a lot of potential locations within the borough of Manhattan.
Identified Punishers
In the five issues of the first Guardians of the Galaxy series in which
the Punishers made (non-recap) appearances, only thirteen of them were ever given names, and three of those
thirteen either were mentioned but did not appear or did appear but only in a crowd scene in which they
could not be reliably identified.
Of those thirteen Punishers, four of them definitely died ("Double Bonus," Ned Witter, Belle and the General) and the four other identified members of Alpha Unit (Nissi, Joey, Clarke and Jenkins) either probably or maybe died. Nothing has been revealed about the other five (Dunn, Elliott, Eunece, Freddy and Statter) after the single scenes in which they each appeared, so they all may have survived to take part in the big battle at the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx. If so, then some or all of them may have (or probably) died there, either in the final battle with the Commandeers and the Guardians or being caught by the detonation of a nuclear device that went off immediately after the heroes were all teleported out of the complex.
Technically, since Clarke and Jenkins appear to be last names while Joey is a first name and Nissi could be either, it's possible that these four names could have belonged to four or three or only two different people. Only Jim Valentino might know for sure.
Although it seems likely that Jim Valentino meant for the nuclear explosion at the Saltex Project to have destroyed the refinery and killed all the Punishers who had not already been killed in battle with the Commandeers and the Guardians, Michael Gallagher changed that by revealing that there were still Punishers left in the city. However, he did not reveal if these Punishers had been at the refinery but had escaped before it was nuked, or if all those at the refinery had died and the Punishers who were later active in the city were alive because they had not gone to the refinery with the General and the rest of their army. Maybe they were just too far away from the Bronx to get to the refinery before the nuke went off.
I would really like to know how many Punishers were active in New York City (and/or the world) when the Guardians returned to Earth is issue #17 and how many of them were still alive at the end of issue #20.
Of the six Punishers in the main image whose faces can be seen, only one (Ned Witter) can actually be confirmed (because of his unique haircut) to have actually appeared in the stories in GOTG I#17-20 + 30. Of the other five, three were pale-skinned, one had pale orange skin (and was presumably meant to be Asian), and the last had grey skin (and was presumably meant to be Middle Eastern). Three of the six were female, including a young girl. All in all, a fairly diverse group of murderous sociopaths.
The Punishers were described as a street army and were army-like in that they did seem to be organized hierarchically into progressively smaller units commanded by officers of progressively lower rank. However, few details about how they were organized were ever revealed. For one thing, the only units smaller than all the troops that were mentioned was Alpha Unit, which was made up of at least six Punishers, and a platoon, which contained an unspecified number of Punishers. For another thing, aside from the single General who had overall command of the Punishers, the only two other Punishers whose ranks were revealed were Lieutenant Dunn and Private Statter, with no references at all to any other ranks from real armies, like corporals or sergeants or captains or majors or colonels.
Major Vance Astro made his first appearance as "Major Victory" in GOTG I#20 when he showed up unexpectedly at the refinery and provided enough of a distraction that the Guardians and the Commandeers were able to start fighting back after having been forced to surrender by Belle. However, when Astro spoke of having taken his moniker from an obscure Word War II hero he had read about when he was a kid, Talon somehow knew that that name was "Major Victory" even though Astro was never seen stating that name during the first five pages of that issue. So, how did Talon know what Astro's new name was?
Although writer Jim Valentino thought otherwise, Reality-691 is generally treated as if it isn't affected by a Sliding Timescale. As such, the Martian invasion and occupation of Earth-691 in its early 21st remains locked as beginning in the year 2001 A.D. This means that, although Frank Castle might have survived into that century, he was and remains primarily one of the "20th century super heroes" about whom Major Astro recorded his docu-chips.
However, Jim Valentino did believe that Earth-691 was affected by a Sliding Timescale and wrote his stories with that in mind. This resulted in him displacing the year in which Vance Astro's spaceship was launched from Earth forward in time, from the year 1988 A.D. to sometime "early in the twenty-first century." Since the Martian invasion would also have had to be displaced by an equal amount of time, that meant that it couldn't have occurred any earlier than the year 2014 A.D. So, in this scenario, Frank Castle, if he had lived long enough to have an opportunity to fight the Martians, would have been a famous character from both the 20th and 21st centuries.
It should be noted that, although Mr. Valentino did establish that a Frank Castle who had become the Punisher was part of Earth-691's history, his stories made no mention of Castle being involved in the fight against the Martian invaders. It was writer Michael Gallagher who did that in the "Future History" trilogy of backup stories he wrote in 1994. This was probably because he considered the 2001 A.D. Martian invasion to be a fixed date that was, from the perspective of the then-modern-day Marvel Universe of 1994, only seven years in the future, and thus a date that was well within Castle's potential lifespan.
Original profile by Zerostar.
Expanded profile by Donald Campbell.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Belle has no known connection to:
"Double Bonus" (not his real name or even an alias he used) has no known connection to:
Lieutenant Dunn has no known connections to:
Ned Whitter has no known connection to:
The Punisher General is not to be confused with:
Clarke, Elliott, Eunece, Freddy, Jenkins, Joey, Nissi and Statter have no known
connections to:
(Punisher) General
The leader of the Punishers, the Punisher General was a sick, sadistic sociopath, who didn't even have a problem working with the Badoon. When he heard that the Commandeers and Guardians had joined forces, he decided to send every Punisher in his ranks to finally end the war with the Commandeers. While inspecting the alley from which the Commandeers and the Guardians had somehow escaped, the General was unhappy when Ned Witter couldn't explain how they had escaped except with possibly-magic help from a weird guy with a tail. After asking Ned who that weird guy with a tail was and Ned admitted that he didn't know, the General replied, "You don't?" and then snapped Ned's neck, saying, "Wrong answer, Ned." When Private Statter asked if they should try to track their targets down, the General told her not to bother because his "inside man" would lead the Punishers right to them again.
Later, after having been summoned to the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx by their Badoon allies, the General, along with his entire army of Punishers, joined the Badoon in confronting the Guardians and Commandeers there. When asked by Charlie-27 how he could turn against his own kind, the General replied that he didn't have any kind because he was a Punisher, and the Punishers were a law totally unto themselves. He then ordered "Darlin'" to "drop him," and Belle revealed her true allegiance by pulling a gun on Charlie-27, placing it against his head and ordering the rest of the Commandeers and the Guardians to drop their weapons or she would kill him.
As the Punishers were about to carry out the Badoon's order to fire at will, the sudden arrival of Major Victory (Vance Astro) distracted everyone and enabled the Commandeers and the Guardians to turn the tables on the Punishers. Seeing that things were turning against them, the General decided to retreat to the safety of the Ultimate Punisher but hid his intentions by ordering the Punishers to commence fire and to cover him while he saw where the surviving Badoon had gone. Seeing that Durge had had the same idea, the General got into the tank with him. When he asked Durge if the plan was to "Waste 'em with it?" Durge replied that they were going to escape in it, and the General agreed, saying, "Good plan! I like it!" However, their escape attempt was thwarted when Hollywood picked up the tank and threw it off a walkway, only for Krugarr to catch it and then teleport it, the Commandeers and the Guardians to the heart of the complex. Now stuck inside the tank with Durge trying to contact the Brotherhood by radio, the General and the Badoon both heard Major Victory announce that they were about to detonate a nuclear device and offered to protect them if they surrendered. Although Durge told him to ignore the ultimatum because those so-called heroes did not have the backbone to actually do it, the General thought otherwise and shot the Badoon in the back, then opened the hatch and told the heroes that he was coming up and was unarmed. As he climbed out of the hatchway, Major Victory asked about the Badoon and the General assured him that he wouldn't be bothering anyone ever again. Seconds later, Gabrielle said, "Neither will you!" and shot the General in the head, killing him.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18 (GOTG I#18-20)
Notes: Although this character is universally called the Punisher General online, within the stories his subordinates only addressed him as either "Sir" or "General."
According to online sources, the General's real name was Dylan Gerfunkle. Unfortunately, I have no idea where that name originated and thus cannot confirm it.
Ned Whitter
The apparent leader of Alpha Unit, Ned Witter commanded the ambush on the Commandeers who had just joined forces with the Guardians. A sniper, Ned took the first shot and nearly assassinated Major Astro. He would've easily accomplished the task if a claw fired at him by the Inhuman Talon hadn't struck his face and thrown off his aim. When their targets began firing back at them, Ned authorized a bonus for any hit and a double bonus for every kill. He survived having the building beneath him being blown up by Charlie-27 but was then captured by the Jovian who, in an attempt to learn the location of the headquarters of the Punishers, beat on him until the Ultimate Punisher arrived and forced the Guardians and the Commanders to pick up their gear and run.
Later, when the Punisher General came to inspect the alley from which their enemies had mysteriously disappeared and didn't like Ned's answers as to how they had gotten away, he snapped Ned's neck and dropped his body onto the street in front of Private Statter.
Ned was practically fearless as, even while getting his face caved in by Charlie-27, he spat on him in defiance. He was also unconcerned when the Ultimate Punisher arrived and its indiscriminate firing threatened to possibly kill him, stating that he wouldn't mind dying for the greater glory of something that he didn't name because Charlie-27 knocked him out before he could finish the sentence.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#17-19
Belle
A sleeper agent for the Punishers, Belle was a fair-skinned blonde woman who spoke with a thick Southern belle accent. Using some unspecified deception, she was able to fool the Commandeers into believing that she shared their cause. When the Commandeers met the Guardians, Belle began to flirt with Charlie 27, and continued to do so after the arrival of the Ultimate Punisher tank had forced the surviving members of both teams to escape via the tunnels.
While traveling through those tunnels to the Realitee-Vee refinery, Belle overheard Yondu mention that there was a ringing in his ears, one that was too high-pitched for humans to hear, and that he thought it was almost like a homing device. Belle's face showed her shock that the signal had been detected but nobody noticed because just then the combined group arrived at the huge refinery in the Bronx. Belle continued playing her part until the Guardians and Commandeers were confronted by the Punishers and their Badoon allies in the Saltex Project refinery, at which point she showed her true nature by pointing a gun at Charlie's head and threatening to kill the "overstuffed pig" unless all of the Commandeers and the Guardians dropped their weapons and surrendered. Once they did so, the Badoon ordered the Punishers to fire at will but the sudden arrival of Major Victory (Vance Astro) caused a distraction that enabled Charlie-27 to backhand her away from him. Apparently dazed by the blow, Belle was still sitting on the walkway without a weapon at hand when Commandeer member Gabrielle approached her. Realizing what was about to happen, Belle whispered, "Gabrielle, no" but that didn't stop Gabrielle from drawing her pistol and shooting Belle in the head to prevent her from ever deceiving anyone ever again.
As the "inside man" for the General, Belle secretly carried a homing device on her person that emitted a sonic signal that was too high-pitched for humans (but not Centaurians, like Yondu) to hear.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#17-20
"Double Bonus"
This long-haired male Punisher led four other Punishers into action against Old Redd, Yondu and Inez. After Yondu silenced Inez (by putting his hand over her mouth) and told her to be quiet before her loud mouth alerted their enemies, this Punisher showed up with his team, told "Bunky" (Yondu) that it was too late, they'd done been alerted, and then shot Inez point-blank. Quite pleased with himself, he gushed that this kill meant that he would get himself a "double bonus" (Hence the name.) However, his lack of respect for life sent Yondu into a rage, and he was torn up by the usually stoic Guardian's axe-hand.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18
Note: Although this character's actual death was not quite depicted on-panel, the height of the blow that Yondu struck and the loud "SPALOASH" that resulted from that blow suggests that Yondu may have slashed his throat wide open or even decapitated him. Whatever happened, his comrades certainly seemed shocked by how brutally he was killed.
Dunn
Dunn had reached the level of Lieutenant in the Punisher organization, but seemed to mostly work as an information source for the Punisher General and as a dispatcher for the Punisher army.
After Alpha Unit had been sent to attack the Commandeers in Midtown, Dunn monitored the situation using surveillance cameras. Upon seeing that they were having some trouble, Dunn dispatched a platoon to support them and then reported to the General, informing him that they were having some trouble in Midtown. When asked if the problem was with their operative's signal, he replied that the signal was still strong, then revealed that the Commandeers had apparently joined forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy and that Alpha Unit was down and they were waiting on casualty reports. After the General ordered him to mobilize their troops, Dunn replied that he had already dispatched a platoon but the General corrected him, saying that he was to dispatch ALL of their troops, every Punisher in the city, so as to end the war between the Punishers and the Commandeers once and for all. Dunn presumably complied with that order.
Lieutenant Dunn wasn't seen after that exchange with the General. He may have been among the dozens of Punishers who confronted the Commandeers and the Guardians at the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx and, if so, then he maybe/probably died there.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18
Members of Alpha Unit, the team of Punishers who attacked the Commandeers and the Guardians by ambushing them from a rooftop in Midtown. The two of them were reported to be "down" soon after their targets began firing back.
--mentioned (but not seen) in Guardians of the Galaxy I#18
A male Punisher who was among those Punishers who had gathered at the alley from which the Commandeers and the Guardians had mysteriously escaped. While there, he did something wrong, prompting another Punisher to call out, "Elliott! If I've told you once, I've told you..." but whatever else the other Punisher was about to say could not be heard over what other Punishers on the scene were saying.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#19
Note: While it's possible that Elliott was the bald but mustachioed heavyset Punisher who was apparently drinking while on duty, there's nothing in the story to confirm that that Punisher was Elliott, so I haven't included his image.
Eunece and her friend
Two female Punishers, Eunece and her friend were among the Punishers who had gathered at the alley from which the Commandeers and the Guardians had mysteriously escaped.
When they spotted the General coming towards them with Ned Witter, the friend said, "Look at the size of him, Eunece!" and Eunece replied, "VA-VA-VOOM!!"
Eunece and her friend both appeared to have light-colored hair that was probably blonde. While her friend wore her hair in a ponytail, Eunece let her hair drape down her back to just below her shoulders.
Eunece's friend had a slender build while Eunece herself was more heavyset.
Neither Eunece nor her friend were seen after the Punishers left that alley and what happened to them has never been revealed. They may have been among the dozens of Punishers who confronted the Commandeers and the Guardians at the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx and, if so, then they maybe/probably died there.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#19
Freddy and his lover
A male Punisher with pale skin and dark hair, Freddy was apparently in a sexual/romantic relationship with a female Punisher whose name has not been revealed.
Freddy and his lover were among the Punishers who had gathered at the alley from which the Commandeers and the Guardians had mysteriously escaped. While there, Freddy put his left hand on the wall of the building beside which they were standing and trapped her against it with his body. However, his lover apparently felt that it was inappropriate for them to engage in such behavior in public, or at least where they then were, and told him, "FREDDY! Not HERE!" Whether or not her words caused Freddy to back off has not been revealed.
Neither Freddy nor his lover were seen after the Punishers left that alley and what happened to them has never been revealed. They may have been among the dozens of Punishers who confronted the Commandeers and the Guardians at the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx and, if so, then they maybe/probably died there.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#19
Joey
A male Punisher with pale skin and receding blond hair, Joey was a member of Alpha Unit when they ambushed the Commandeers and the Guardians in Midtown.
After the Commandeers had begun firing back at them and Ned Witter had announced that that there was a bonus in it for every Punisher who for any "hit" on their targets and a double bonus if a Punisher cut any of them down, Joey asked him, "Ain't you gettin' in on it, Ned?" Witter replied that he wanted the "freak" (Talon) on the building across the street.
What happened to Joey afterwards hasn't been revealed. He may have been one of the Alpha Unit Punishers who were killed or wounded when Charlie-27 used his big gun to take out the whole side of the building on which he was standing. Or he could have survived that engagement only to be killed in the Saltex Complex refinery, either by battling the combined forces of the Commandeers and Guardians or by being caught by the detonation of a nuclear device that went off immediately after the heroes were all teleported out of the complex.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18
Nissi
A beret-wearing female Punisher with a freckled face and pale orange hair, Nissi was a member of Alpha Unit when they ambushed the Commandeers and the Guardians, and was standing on the rooftop beside Ned Witter when he took a shot at Major Astro. After Astro had gone down and the Commandeers had begun firing back at them, Nissi said, "Ned, let's get outta here. We got one of 'em." However, Ned refused, saying that he wanted that freak with the tail that had cut him and thrown off his aim. Nissi protested, saying, "But, Ned, They're firing on us!!" and Ned told her (and the other Punishers in Alpha Unit) to fire back and asked if they were wimps or Punishers.
What happened to Nissi after that exchange hasn't been revealed. She may have been one of the Alpha Unit Punishers who were killed or wounded when Charlie-27 used his big gun to take out the whole side of the building on which she was standing. Or she could have survived that engagement only to be killed in the Saltex Complex refinery, either by battling the combined forces of the Commandeers and Guardians or by being caught by the detonation of a nuclear device that went off immediately after the heroes were all teleported out of the complex.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18
Note: Although Nissi was only identified by name in GOTG I#18, a blonde female Punisher who looked very much like her was shown standing beside Ned Witter on that rooftop in GOTG I#17 (as can be seen in one of the images in Ned's subprofile). However, although that earlier girl Punisher had the same freckled face and long hair as Nissi and was also wearing a beret, Nissi's hair was pale orange instead of blonde and her beret was pale blue instead of black.
Statter
A woman with pale skin and brown hair, Private Statter was among the Punishers who gathered at the alley from which the Commandeers and the Guardians had mysteriously escaped, and was present when the General snapped Ned Witter's neck for giving a wrong answer to his questions. Having witnessed this execution, Statter rather nervously asked, "Uh,..sir? Should we, um, try to track them down?" but the General told her (as he dropped Ned's corpse onto the street in front of her with a "Thunk") that that wouldn't be necessary because his inside man would lead them right to their targets again.
Private Statter wasn't seen after that brief scene with the General and what happened to her has never been revealed. She may have been among the dozens of Punishers who confronted the Commandeers and the Guardians at the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx and, if so, then she maybe/probably died there.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#19
Sky-skiff
A small flying vehicle, the sky-skiff resembled a short sled with a control column (with a pair of handlebars) at one end. An instrument display was located on the back of the control column, facing the pilot. Although it had rocket engines on either side to provide forward thrust, exactly what kept it flying or hovering above the ground was never revealed (but probably involved anti-gravity or electromagnetic field manipulation). The pilot stood behind the control column with at least one hand on the handlebars. The sky-skiff itself wasn't equipped with any built-in weapons but was easy enough to control that a competent pilot could fly it with only one hand while using the other hand to fire a handheld weapon. The vehicle had enough room to perhaps carry two adult humans.
The sky-skiff was first seen in action when a female Punisher with long blonde hair used in during the later stages of the attack on the Commandeers in Midtown. That Punisher, who was probably part of the platoon sent to reinforce Alpha Unit, targeted Crazy Nate of the Commandeers and Nikki of the Guardians, swooping down on them from out of the sky and opening fire with a machine gun held in her right had. After her initial attack missed, she flew off to come around for another attack but by then Nikki was ready for her, having climbed to the roof of a building and laying in wait for her. When the sky-skiff came close enough, Nikki swung herself off the edge of the roof and carefully somersaulted down to land right between the Punisher and the control column. As she grabbed hold of one of the handlebars, Nikki kicked the surprised Punisher backwards and off the sky-skiff. Now in control of the vehicle, Nikki continued to ride it for the rest of the encounter with the Punishers, even through the tunnels that led to the Saltex Project refinery in the Bronx.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18-20
Note: In his Guardians of the Galaxy Retrospective, Jim Valentino referred to this vehicle as a "sky-sled" instead.
The Ultimate Punisher
A nearly indestructible tank, the Ultimate Punisher was extremely well-armored, to the extent that it could survive a direct hit by a high explosive shell that was capable of bringing down a building without suffering any apparent damage (but it's unknown how well it would have fared against an armor-piercing shell). The tank was propelled by two caterpillar treads whose metal plates were spiked, either to provide better traction or to cause increased damage to anyone they might run over. The vehicle had been built with a fixed rectangular casemate instead of a rotating turret, and it was from this structure, the highest part of the hull, that the main gun extended forward. The circular hatch that was the only access point to the tank's interior was located in the center of the casemate's roof. The hatch was hinged and swung up when opened, revealing a ladder that had to be climbed down to reach the interior compartment of the tank. This compartment was fairly spacious, with more than enough room for two people to move around. Aside from a door leading to another chamber, this was the control center of the tank. From a seat in front of a large control panel, a single operator could control both the tank's motion and its various weapons, thereby functioning as both driver and gunner. A radio was among the equipment available for use by the operator. No information about its normal crew complement has been revealed.
The Ultimate Punisher was very well-armed with a variety of weapons. Aside from its fixed main gun, which was never seen in operation, over a dozen smaller guns were mounted on the front of the tank. These guns made "budda" or "shoop" sounds when they were fired and may have been machine guns or other types of projectile weapons that could be fired repeatedly. There were at least four other weapons that were mounted on the top surface of the tank but could apparently be retracted within the hull if needed. While at least two of these weapons were larger projectile weapons, at least one of them was a directed-energy weapon that fired (probably) either a laser beam or a particle beam. No precise specifications for any of these weapons have ever been provided.
The Ultimate Punisher was among the reinforcements sent in to finish off the Guardians and Commandeers. When it arrived on the scene of battle and began firing indiscriminately, Charlie-27 tried to destroy it using the huge gun with which he had recently blown up a building. However, when the tank was completely undamaged by the explosive shell, the Guardians and the surviving Commandeers quickly decided that their only viable option was to run so they quickly retreated through the alleys until their lost their pursuers.
Unable to follow them, the Ultimate Punisher was next seen parked around the corner from the alley from which the Commandeers and the Guardians had (thanks to Talon) mysteriously escaped.
Later, the Ultimate Punisher was present at the Saltex Project in the Bronx for the final confrontation between the Commandeers/Guardians and the Punishers. When things began to go badly, the Punisher General and the Badoon Durge secured the tank and tried to escape in it, but Hollywood intercepted them, lifted the Ultimate Punisher over his head and threw it off the elevated walkway where everyone was fighting. However, when Charlie-27 cried out that he hadn't wanted the tank destroyed, Krugarr was able to catch it and, at Charlie-27's request, teleported it and its occupants, along with the Commandeers and the Guardians, to the middle of the complex. Once there, the two occupants soon ended up dead, and Charlie-27 rigged "this gun" to go nuclear. The tank was presumably destroyed in the resulting explosion.
--Guardians of the Galaxy I#18-20
Note: Although the dialogue suggested that Charlie-27 didn't want the tank destroyed because he was planning to rig it to explode and destroy the Realitee-Vee refinery, the image of the gun that he was shown rigging looked like the huge gun that he had been carrying around since issue #17. Given that Jim Valentino both wrote and drew that issue, the discrepancy seems odd.
Despite being extremely durable and VERY well-armed, the Ultimate Punisher wasn't actually shown be that deadly. Essentially, all it ended up doing was showing up at a battle, firing its weapons indiscriminately (without apparently hitting anyone), and then surviving a direct hit from a high explosive without suffering any damage, thereby prompting its attackers to flee. As far as I can tell, its weapons never actually killed (or even hit) anyone.
images: (without ads)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#17, page 18, panel 7 (main image)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#30, page 19, panel 1 (last Punishers captured)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#18, page 9, panel 4 (the General)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#17, page 23, panel 5 (Ned Witter taking aim)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#18, page 15, panel 3 (Ned Witter being interrogated by Charlie-27)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#19, page 21, panel 3 (Belle taking Charlie-27 hostage)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#20, page 7, panel 4 (Belle realizing she's going to be killed)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#18, page 11, panel 4 ("Double Bonus")
page 12, panels 3-4 (brutal death of "Double Bonus")
page 9, panel 1 (Lieutenant Dunn at Punishers HQ)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#19, page 1, panel 1 (Eunece and friend admiring the view)
page 1, panel 1 (Freddy and his lover)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#18, page 5, panel 1 (Joey)
page 4, panel 1 (Nissi)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#19, page 2, panel 2 (Private Statter)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#18, page 13, panel 2 (female Punisher on sky-skiff firing)
page 16, panel 1 (female Punisher on sky-skiff about to lose her ride)
page 18, panel 3 (the Ultimate Punisher)
Appearances:
Guardians of the Galaxy I#17-20 (October, 1991 - January, 1992) - Jim Valentino (writer/pencils), Steve
Montano (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#30 (November, 1992) - Michael "Gator" Gallagher (story), Kevin "Wild Wild"
West (penciler), Steve "Monotone" Montano (inks), Craig "Windows" Anderson (editing)
Guardians of the Galaxy I#32 (January, 1993) - Michael Gallagher (language), Kevin West (graphite),
Steve Montano (noir), Craig Anderson (hatchet)
First Posted: 12/21/2003
Last updated: 07/14/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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